Project: MASK - Viral Revenge
by Pikpixie03
Summary: An old foe returns to stalk Cryaotic! Even went as far to kidnap one of his closest friends and challenge him to fight to get them back. Can Cry and friends defeat Virus again or will the viral program fulfill his goal to take over Cry's body and escape Cyber Space? NOT a PewdieCry pairing
1. Old Enemy

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the YouTubers, Virus!Cry or Mad!Cry. YouTubers belong to themselves (I mean seriously, we can't own people, that's illegal.) Virus and Mad!Cry belong to the people that first created them in Tumblr. You rock. Image belongs to artisticalassassin from deviantArt**

A/N: I'm still working on the title, if you got a suggestion, let me know in the reviews or PM me. In fact, for the reviews, if you like it you like, fine, but I do ask to have some _helpful_ criticism to help improve my rusty ass writing skills or tips on making the chapters better for you. :3 Also I apologize in advance if any of the characters (YouTubers) are acting Out Of Character. I only know a little of their personalities and habits (Or none and just guess) on many of them. Sorry. :(

Anyway... helpful guide.

/ - anything in those is usually text from a computer

Flashbacks are italicized, unless its computer text or Virus speaking

Virus' dialogue is in italics unless in flashbacks.

* * *

Chapter One - Old Enemy

An explosion roared as debris rained from the heavens and onto the desolate streets; a dust cloud billowed and marred the sky, marking the location of where it took place. A figure leaped on top of a car, denting the roof as he looked impassively toward a destroyed storefront. He ignored the crumbling buildings of the ruined section of the city, he didn't care about the people that raced away, screaming in terror. The figure kept his focus on the storefront, waiting for a sign, a movement.

A second figure stumbled out, coughing; his green hoodie ragged, torn and dirty, same with his jeans and shoes. He coughed again, sending the first a sharp glare through the eye-holes of his slightly cracked poker faced mask as he readjusted it correctly on his face. Wind rushed through and blew the dust away, ruffling the second figure's brown hair as green electricity crackled around his forearms. The first figure's lips curved into a dark smirk behind a frighteningly similar mask, chuckling as blue electrical energy sparked and snaked around his body. _"You must be joking, correct?"_ the figure asked, voice distorting while stepping off the car. _"You're still going to defy me, Cryaotic?"_

"Damn straight I am, Virus." the YouTuber hissed, the electricity on his arms whipping the air before shifting and taking the form of twin blades. "I'm not going to just sit back and let you take over my body!"

_"Heh, is that right? Well, we have plenty of time to change your mind."_

The gamer growled then charged forward with a battle-cry as the viral double met him halfway with swords of his own. Both swung at the same time, blades clashing and locking each other in a battle of strength. Distorted laughter left Virus' mouth as he leaned toward Cry's face and purred. _"Tsk tsk, Cry... did you forget I am you? I know every move you make, you can't win."_ Cry cringed, suppressing the urge to shudder at hearing his own voice warp, like an audio file from one of his videos just corrupted on him. But then that's what Virus was... a collection of corrupted data. Right? The virus grinned further at seeing the YouTuber struggle against him. _"Not only will I take your body, but I will take everything you have. Every. Single. Thing. After all, you and I are one and the same."_

"The hell we are!"

Ignoring his outburst, Virus continued. _"And I think I'll start..."_ the double's haunting electric blue eyes flashed brightly in excitement as his mask's jagged smile grew, glancing off to the side to a crumpled form a fair distance from them. _"...with our friend over there."_ Cry's own blue eyes widen in horror, glancing over to his friend. Taking advantage of his distraction, the virus knocked the young man's blades aside, throwing him off balance before he slammed his palm into Cry's stomach. The virus smirked then clicked his tongue mockingly. _"So easily distracted."_ His smirk turned into a sharp grin as electrical energy gathered to his palm. _"That's going to cost you, friend."_

The brunet shrieked in agony as a powerful shock coursed through his body for a few seconds before Virus backhanded him, sending him flying to the side. Cry yelped and cried out in pain as he skipped across the pavement and slid to a stop near his unconscious friend. He coughed and groaned as he struggled to prop himself up off the street, closing his eyes briefly to cope with the pain.

The gamer panted then stiffened as a pair of converse shoes stood in his field of vision, bits of circuitry shown here and there on them. Growling, Cry lifted his gaze to glare at Virus, who gazed down at him with a superior glint in his eyes._ "You lose."_ The virus smirked and turned to glance at the unconscious figure then slid his vision back to the YouTuber, looking down at him through the corner of his eyes._ "And now you get to lay there and watch me claim one of my many prizes."_ With that the malevolent program turned on his heel and slowly walked to his future host's defenseless friend, purposely stretching the time to further break him.

"No..." Cry growled softly, managing to get onto his hands and knees, watching his viral counterpart get closer to one of his friends. As he watched Virus hold out his hand to claim his victim, the gamer's mind flashed back to how this started.

* * *

*~*~*Flashback*~*~*

_Cry laughed as he watched as Pewdiepie once again attempted to solve the maze of buzz saws, spiked balls and other various deadly traps to join him on the finish line. And failed. Horribly. The Swede made a sound mixed between a whine and a frustrated growl as the little red cat exploded like a bloody balloon, showering the stage with crimson liquid. "Pewds... should I-?" the masked gamer began then bit back a laugh as his friend cut him off with a halfhearted glare at his own computer screen._

_"Nooo~! I got it." Pewdie whined through the Skype call as he once again moved the little feline across the stage. After a few narrow close calls, the blonde looked happy at finally getting to the finish line... only to be crushed by a stone fist that dropped in from a hidden spot at the last stretch of the path. The Swede groaned in frustration and dismay as he dropped his head on his desk, pouting as the American giggled uncontrollably at the event. "Not funny, Cry." he grumbled with a small smile._

_"S-sorry, I couldn't help it." the brunet chuckled then took a breath to stop himself. "So.. should I go on ahead?"_

_Pewdie grinned and readjusted his headset, "Sure, can't leave the Bros hanging."_

_Cry nodded then moved his green little feline character into the next stage and the two of them proceeded to attempt the stage. Several minutes flew by as they fell into giggle fits as they tried and failed many times trying to complete the stage via jumping on top of each other, falling into the lava pit, shot at or smashed by hidden evil bro fists. As they went for another try, the red cat stopped moving and suddenly vanished with the text reading:_

/Pewdiepie has left the game./

_Confused by the abrupt disappearance, the masked gamer called out to his friend through their Skype Call, but only silence answered back. Did the call get dropped? He didn't hear the sound of someone leaving the call. He hovered his mouse over the Skype icon on his task bar and brought it up, raising a brow at the strangeness that showed him. Pewdie was shown to still be on call but no sound was coming from it. He figured that the game crashed on the Swede but it was unnerving to not hear his friend complain about it._

_"I'm sure it's nothing big, I'll wait." Cry said, tightening the string on his mask to secure it better. He was betting that the Swedish YouTuber was complaining but had accidentally put himself on mute. It wasn't the first time it had happened. As he waited, he fiddle around in the game, making his little cat character run around and jump, ducking down in a show of him dancing as he mumbled to himself. He half wondered if Pewdie would keep his little dance up again in the video like last time, if he sent him the missing footage to him? He grinned to himself. Ah, what's the harm? Pewdie's fans would enjoy seeing his little cat dance around for several empty minutes._

_After several moments of silence, Cry frowned. Shouldn't Pewdie have finished rebooting the game by now? It only takes a couple of minutes right? "Pewds?" He stopped the recording for a moment, calling to his friend through Skype once more. The window holding Bloody Trapland suddenly closed on the gamer as he clicked back onto it. "Hey! Man, I hope we don't have to start all over- what the hell?" All three of his screens then went black, making the American growl and slam his fists on his desk. "Oh, come on! Don't tell me my entire network crashed!"_

/No, it hasn't./

_"What?" Startled, Cry blinked at the typing that just appeared on his screen, jerking his hands away from the keyboard. Did he just type that to answer himself? No... he couldn't have, he would have noticed himself typing it. What the hell was going on? Did someone hijack his network? He frowned at the thought. 'No, I'm pretty damn sure no one got through the firewalls. The programs would've alerted me if someone had pinged me and tried anything, but nothing happened. So then... how did they hear-' The mic from his headset bumped against his mouth as if to remind him it was there. 'Oh.'_

/I can tell from the look in your eyes that you're obviously confused./_ Cry froze at the words on his screen. They could see him? But how?! He didn't have a webcam or anything of the sort to record or stream his face! The typing went on as if not bothered by his growing alarm. _/Yes, in a way someone, or rather **I**, hijacked your network. I would have thought it would be much harder.. but then again it is OUR network./

_"Ours?"_

/Yes, ours. Did I stutter?/

_Cry's head slightly tilted to the side in confusion. Just who the fuck was this to say his private network was shared?_

/*sigh* Rather dense aren't you? Just who is the only one that can work the system and bypass the securities without alarming them? Other than yourself?/

_The gamer frowned at the typing. He didn't like being toyed with but he couldn't help be a little curious about this. Though, he'd more in a riddle solving mood if his computer wasn't in the hands of some random punk that had the gall to fuck with him. As he quickly thought about the half assed riddle, he wished he could reach through the vastness of the world wide web and punch the fucker in the face. He couldn't think of anyone outside of his friends of the Late Night Crew but they didn't know his passwords or the like. No way it could be them. There was Pewdiepie as he once worked with computers, but even then, he didn't dare breach his friendship or trust with the American for some prank. But what about Cry himself? Well, he's awake and aware, so it couldn't be himself. Unless this was one hell of a nightmare. Mad could... if he bothered to care long enough to do any hacking but he would rather beat the computer to 'make it work' for the lulz. So that left..._

_He froze._

/That's right, Cryaotic... Me./


	2. Viral Intentions

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the YouTubers, Virus!Cry or Mad!Cry. YouTubers belong to themselves (I mean seriously, we can't own people, that's illegal.) Virus and Mad!Cry belong to the people that first created them in Tumblr. You rock. Image belongs to artisticalassassin from deviantArt**

A/N: I'm still working on the title, if you got a suggestion, let me know in the reviews or PM me. In fact, for the reviews, if you like it you like, fine, but I do ask to have some _helpful_ criticism to help improve my rusty ass writing skills or tips on making the chapters better for you. :3 Also I apologize in advance if any of the characters (YouTubers) are acting Out Of Character. I only know a little of their personalities and habits (Or none and just guess) on many of them. Sorry. :(

Anyway... helpful guide.

/ - anything in those is usually text from a computer

Flashbacks are italicized, unless its computer text or Virus speaking

Virus' dialogue is in italics unless in flashbacks.

-_- And apparently I can't do the .EXE without FanFiction flipping its shit. So I may go with either a comma to replace the dot or ... or just a dash, whichever you guys prefer. Let me know. :)

* * *

Chapter Two - Viral Intentions

_The typing burst into bits of code, swirled on the black screen and reformed into that of a mirror image of the gamer. Brown hair, green hoodie and a white mask that sat snug on the image's face. An exact replica of Cry with a few key differences in appearance. Cry's hands curled into fists as he glared at the screen, gritting his teeth at the return of Virus, who watched him on his screen. Not good... not good. Even he prayed it was just a nightmare, the gamer decided to see if this was real. "Shouldn't you be dead?" he asked the image, not bothering to hide his irritation._

"Deleted." _Virus corrected, staring at the young man with eyes of a much lighter shade of blue compared to the human's normal hue, _"To you I should be, considering how I was deleted."_ He closed his eyes in remembrance as he lightly fingered the jagged edge of where his right eye should be covered by the mask. Instead that portion of the mask was missing; small fine cracks webbing from the edge and the jagged line for a mouth almost seemed to stretch just a tad. Then Virus' eyes opened and narrowed them at Cry. _"And I appreciate it if you could tell our dear friend, Snake, to not shoot me in the face next time. Deletion may just be an inconvenience for me, but being shot in the face isn't a thrilling experience."

_"If it was that much of a pain, then why didn't you just stay deleted?" Cry grumbled under his breath, propping his cheek on his fist, glad for something to focus on other than his unease at the digital copy's presence. He still couldn't get used to hearing his own voice speaking to him in a warped sound and tone. Creeped him the fuck out every time he heard him._

"Silly boy, I'm a virus. It should be obvious that you can't delete a virus so easily. Kill one, another appears."

_"And a pain in the ass that is." the American muttered as he thought of ways to get rid of the virus and continue the rest of his day in peace. Or whatever amount of peace he could get. Wonder if any of the Late Night Crew were awake at this hour?_

"All the more pleasing to me."_ He grinned behind his broken mask. _"But enough idle chatter... I have something of yours that I know you would want back very eagerly."

_Cry rose a brow to that declaration then glanced at the tower of his computer. What exactly could be in there that he wouldn't want to lose so much? Games? Music? Video files? His recent recordings? He sighed, eyes flicking back to his digital duplicate. "My recordings? As annoying as it would be to lose those, I can re-record them just as easily-"_

"No, not those."

_The YouTuber blinked, "Huh?" That wasn't it? What else could he have..? He narrowed his eyes as he focused on Virus' face. He had a look of seriousness but the glint in his eye, the glow they gave out as a smug grin formed. Last time, Cry learned that the virus' eyes often glowed whenever he was excited, upset, was up to something, or made them glow at will to intimidate others. A gut feeling warned Cry that the program was up to something... and it wasn't his usual tricks either. There was something more... dangerous about him now._

"Its not the recordings... or anything in you precious hard drive. Data is easily replaced, I know that far better than you or any of your damn Crew." _Virus replied, his smirk turning devious and allowed himself a chuckle. _"No, its something much more important. Or should I say 'someone'? Oh the things you learn in cyber space."

_The gamer stiffed at the wording and tone, thoughts racing in trying to figure out what he meant. 'What could he possibly mean by that?! Who does he have?! HOW could he have gotten them! There's no way he could...' He paused then sighed, relaxing himself, his breath a little shaky as he ran a hand through his messy hair. It was a bluff, a tactic to shake him up and force him to make a deal with the program. But everyone was safe and sound, away from the realm of cyber space. "Aha, nice try, Virus, but there's no way you can get anyone." The brunet said, tapping his fingers on the desk, "The only way you could get anyone is if we slipped on the virtual reality helmets. And we're not keen in doing THAT again." He smiled in victory at seeing through the program's lie and shot him the smile to get him to confess that he was lying._

_But Virus' smirk didn't falter. _

_Instead, he merely lifted his arm and pointed toward the left most screen of Cry's set up. A window bloomed from the tip of his index finger and went into full screen mode, playing a video file. Cry stiffened and sucked in his breath sharply as he stared at it._

_On it showed Pewdiepie scowling at his computer, clicking on his mouse on several things. 'Was that when we were playing Bloody Trapland but had crashed on him?' Cry stayed silent as he watched as the Swede sigh in frustration, running a hand through his sandy blonde hair and knocking the headset to hang around his neck. He then gave the screen a withering glare and flipped it off seconds before looking startled and jumping to his feet, hands slamming down on the desk. He shook visibly, swearing at what had scared him in his native tongue. It then quickly escalated to his famous high pitched shriek of fear as a hand shot out of the screen before him and gripped his forearm tightly. He babbled incoherently as he pulled at his arm wildly, trying to break the grip and escape._

_Cry pulled his lips back in a snarl as he watched in silent rage as the blonde continued to struggle to free himself. He had never seen his friend shake and tremble in absolute fear before and he loathed the look in the Swede's eyes. He was far too bright and happy go lucky to have that instilled onto him. The struggle only lasted a few minutes before electricity sparked and gathered around the hand that stayed clamped around the blonde's wrist which apparently Pewdie didn't notice, too preoccupied with swearing and trying to free himself to see it. After a few seconds, the energy was released and the Swede's famous scream of terror instantly switched to a shriek of pain as the electrical shock coursed through his body. The shock stopped and Pewdie's bright eyes dulled, indicating he had passed out as his knees buckled and he collapsed onto his chair. The hand tugged at his arm and the gamer fell forward onto his desk with a thud, a groan of pain escaping past his lips. The hand held him a moment longer then quickly swiped open a window in mid-air, typing in a command._

/Pewdiepie-EXE now uploading/

_The hand then grabbed onto the unconscious man's wrist again if only for a moment, just long enough to allow a series of glowing lines of digital code to spread out along the body. The hand let go and pulled back into the screen and Cry watched in horror as the lines of code swirled around the Swede's body then slither its way into the screen. He then noticed that Pewdie was beginning to look less solid, fading away along with the code as he was uploaded until he completely vanished._

/Pewdiepie-EXE upload complete/

_The video ended abruptly as a fist smashed against the LCD screen, cracks webbing from the center and the monitor flickered before failing to display anything. Cry breathed harshly, his fist still pressed to the broken screen, his eyes unfocused on the object in front him, instead his vision kept replaying the same scene over and over. Pewdie, his best friend, screaming in terror then pain, the sight of him being electrocuted then disappearing. All while, he was sitting in his room, playing Bloody Trapland, completely unaware of his friend's plight. The rage he felt bubbled and churned within him, he simply tightened his fists._

_Virus simply whistled at the display of emotion he was seeing within the calm and mostly laid back gamer._ "Ooh... someone's mad."_ His tone, though distorted by the audio corruption that made his voice, was that of teasing, and didn't flinch in the slightest when the brunet snapped his head toward the center monitor where the virus was._ "Was that really a necessary action? You'll have to replace that, you know."

_"Don't start with me, Virus." Cry spat, turning fully to face the program and ignoring the pain that was pulsing in his fist. He didn't give a shit about the monitor. "That had better be a fucking prank!"_

"If it was, dear Cry, then you destroyed an expensive piece of equipment for nothing."_ the virus returned coolly, still holding the smirk,_ "You didn't honestly think I'd be here wasting my time just to tease you with some half-ass PhotoShopped video just to have you smash a monitor?"

_"Then..?"_

"It's very much real, Cryaotic."_ Virus leaned forward, a look of seriousness replacing his smirk,_ "This isn't some joke to merely scare you for shits and giggles. I **have** Pewdiepie and he's in good health, I assure you... For now."

_Cry shot up from his chair and glowered down at the computer screen that displayed his digital counterpart, visibly shaking. It took everything he had to not just slam his fist into the screen in an attempt to punch the viral program. The YouTuber shoved his anger aside and thought quickly. 'This is beyond bad, if Virus is telling the truth and he has Pewds... there's no telling what he could do to him!' Cry glared at the display, gritting his teeth, 'That's exactly what he wants... to give myself up for Pewds but then there's no telling what would really happen anyway. In fact, this could still be just bluff to get to me.' "How exactly do I know you're telling the truth? You could be saying all of this just to get me to surrender, Virus. How do I know you really have Pewds?"_

_Virus only smiled, flicking his wrist to the right most monitor._ "Try not destroying the screen this time. You don't have the money to replace them at this rate."_ Another window popped open, playing another video. The gamer growled and made to turn away and ignore the file until his eyes caught the letters 'LIVE FEED' displayed on the file's title bar. His eyes widen and watched as it showed the Swede sleeping on a translucent floor, lines of digital code sped across the floor, faint in sight but still there nonetheless. Along with those, were lines of circuitry, glowing softly and pulsed small lights that zipped along the lines tracing random designs on the floor. The blonde groaned as his eyes fluttered open, laying still as his brain went through a system's check, making sure that everything was working properly._

_The brunet gamer let out a sigh of relief as Pewdie's eyes went from dull to bright as he became more aware of himself. The Swedish YouTuber groaned again as he tested each of his limbs then pulled himself to his hand and knees, the other hand pressed to his head. After a few minutes, Pewdie climbed unsteadily to his feet, looking around in confusion and wariness. He seemed to mumble something then began to wander off screen. Then the video feed ended._

_"That doesn't prove anything, y'know." Cry answered, feeling relief flood through at seeing his friend was fine. Though he prayed it wasn't real._

"Then don't do anything about it if you're that confident I'm lying."_ Virus challenged, snapping his fingers at the window on screen, causing it to disappear. In its place the entire monitor glowed softly, showing the same kind of area Pewdie was held, same dark background and floor._

_Cry went ridged at the thought, eyes wide. Would he really take that chance? Risk losing a very good friend to Virus because he refused to take it seriously? Would he abandon Pewdie for the sake calling a bluff? The gamer flinched at seeing his counterpart to stare at him through his visible eye, seeing the devious glint and the cold smirk he knew was hiding behind the broken mask. His confidence in thinking it was all a big lie wavered and faltered at the idea that he could very well leave the blonde to whatever horrors the viral copy could have in store. Cry inwardly swore at the situation, glaring darkly in nothing in particular. 'Shit, he had me from the get go. This is what he wants and I played right into it.'_

_"Where does that portal lead to?" he asked, jerking his thumb to the glowing right computer screen. He touched it lightly as curiosity got the better of him for a moment, watching the screen ripple under his finger tip before he pulled his hand away._

"Cyber Space, genius. Same place where Pewdiepie is, of course IF you believe that."_ the virus replied with a casual shrug,_ "But if you do believe me, then you remember exactly what I want, right?"

_"Yes, as creepy and unnerving as that is. But you do remember that I don't plan on just rolling over for you."_

"You already are, friend. Don't worry, I didn't forget you're a fighter, but that's fine. I prefer giving you a sporting chance."

_"This isn't a game."_

"I never said it was, Cryaotic. The stakes are high, a life hangs in the balance... and we're playing for keeps."_ The virus grinned icily_, "I'll leave you to your thoughts... but don't take too long on deciding. Poor Pewds may come across a nasty infection."_ He didn't laugh or chuckle, just kept that cold smile and vanished in a burst of data, returning the control of the network to Cry and leaving him alone in the darkness of his room._

_Cry growled and slammed his fist against his desk, blinking back tears as he bared his teeth behind his own mask. "Pewds... You __**really**__ crossed the line with me, Virus..."_


	3. Upload and Search

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the YouTubers, Virus!Cry or Mad!Cry. YouTubers belong to themselves (I mean seriously, we can't own people, that's illegal.) Virus and Mad!Cry belong to the people that first created them in Tumblr. You rock. Image belongs to artisticalassassin from deviantArt**

A/N: I'm still working on the title, if you got a suggestion, let me know in the reviews or PM me. In fact, for the reviews, if you like it you like, fine, but I do ask to have some _helpful_ criticism to help improve my rusty ass writing skills or tips on making the chapters better for you. :3 Also I apologize in advance if any of the characters (YouTubers) are acting Out Of Character. I only know a little of their personalities and habits (Or none and just guess) on many of them. Sorry. :(

Anyway... helpful guide.

/ - anything in those is usually text from a computer

Flashbacks are italicized, unless its computer text or Virus speaking

Virus' dialogue is in italics unless in flashbacks.

Also, I'm a bit behind on Chapter 4 due to me now having two different ways of writing it and I'm not sure which one to use. So let me know in reviews or pms of which one you would prefer. The flashbacks to continue a little longer but from Pewdie's point of view which kinda starts off where this chapter leaves off, or just jump into the present and maybe have Pewds' flash back be broken into bits as the present continues? It'll kinda make more sense when you finish reading this chappy. :3

And I'm sorry for how short this chappy is. It was actually longer but none the other points felt like a good place to stop it, so I decided to cut it short and leave the rest for Chapter 4... which now I two versions of wanting to write it. O_o

* * *

Chapter 3 - Upload and Search

_Cry spent the last few minutes pacing his room in a foul mood before he realized that he needed fresh air. Being in the room of where he just learned how dire things were going wasn't doing a damn thing in calming him down. He sighed, removed his mask, tossing it onto his desk and left the house as quietly as he could. Once outside, a cooling breeze blew gently at his face and Cry inhaled deeply, almost instantly feeling better. That was what he needed, a quick walk to clear his head, otherwise he can't help the Swede. He started off on a walk, planning only to go around the block as he let his thoughts race through his mind._

_Anger and fear still churned within him as he walked, thoughts of Pewdie lost and confused in Cyber Space with a malevolent virus possibly stalking him was unnerving. How could Virus do this? Dragging the blonde into a mess that was solely between themselves? Was it only because the timing was convenient or was it something more? He could've gone after any of the Late Night Crew but had targeted Pewdie for some reason. Cry furrowed his brows as he went into a light jog, letting the cool air soothe him as his mind shifted to a more questioning mindset. How was Virus able to get Pewdie anyway if Virus is only confined to Cyber Space? It should be impossible for him to kidnap anyone. The brunet sighed again and filed the questions away for later and focused on calming himself before returning to his house._

_After his jog, Cry sent messages to various members of the Late Night Crew of what had happened, even though he had the feeling that Virus knew he would do that. The gamer's finger had hovered over the delete key multiple times as he was typing the message, often wondering if he should get the others involved. Half of him wanted to keep them safe so not telling them would be best; on the other hand, he was going to need help in keeping Pewdie safe so he had to tell them. Maybe they could figure out a way to get them both out once he was in and kept Virus busy. Once the messages were sent, Cry placed his famous mask back on his face and turned to the portal that waited for him. The monitor glowed innocently, allowing him to see a small window of the vast realm that lay beyond his screen, the territory of his enemy; Cyber Space. The glow and what laid beyond practically begged him to jump in and damn the consequences to explore the world of the internet._

_But Cry knew better than that._

_Still, he had to go in to save Pewdiepie. The masked gamer placed his hand against the screen, twitching at the tingling feel of the ripples that appeared around his palm. It moved like water but felt a little squishy like gel, yet offered little resistance as he pressed against it. Cry took a deep breath, exhaled slowly and plunged his hand into the digital portal._

/Cryaotic-EXE now uploading/

_At once lines of code and glowing circuitry took to him with his acceptance of entering Cyber Space. The tiny ones and zeroes circled up his arm and spiraled around him in a translucent ribbon of green, keeping a few inches from making contact with his body. Cry felt slightly disconnected with the world around him, a sensation of floating in the air when he was obviously standing still with his feet still on the floor. He supposed that was purpose of the ribbon of code, to prepare him for transportation by disconnecting him from his original world. "Oh, this feels weird... Funny but weird." Next, were the glowing lines of circuitry traveling up his arm and leaving behind branches that sped elsewhere along his frame._

_The YouTuber was at slight awe as he watched himself break down into digital data and seep into the portal little by little. He stared down at his half missing arm and shuddered slightly. "Okay, now this tops my 'Most Disturbing Things' list hands down." he muttered, grimacing at the broken digital stub of an arm. It was pretty frightening at seeing his own limb disappear before his eyes and get sucked into a computer screen. He closed his eyes at the nauseating flip of his stomach as he felt more of himself disassemble and stream away from him at much more rapid rate. His consciousness faded as the digital breakup reached his shoulders. The final pieces of data quickly fell in step with the rest and streamed into the portal; and in a flash of light Cry vanished from his room._

/Cryaotic-EXE upload complete/

* * *

_Cry ran as fast as he could, calling out Pewdie's name in hopes of finding him before Virus could, but everywhere he turned or the direction he ran in, it all looked the same. Darkness stretched as far as the eye could see, making the world look like eternal night; as strands code and data streamed through the sky. Crystalline-like shards hovered in the air, gathering the streaming data within glowing spheres at various points, both in the air and platforms, to be distributed elsewhere in Cyber Space. To him it looked like rivers and flying ribbons that twisted this way and that above and below the main floor he ran on. The platforms and floors that were scattered in all ranges were transparent like colored glass; held within them were chains of binary code that moved rapidly to send commands to keep the place together. Lines of circuitry and the pulses of light that carried information and instructions back and forth between each other gave it it all a dreamy, ethereal glow. It was all that lit his way as he ran and jumped onto platforms in search of his friend. From where he ran, Cry could see towers of light, the vortexes of data that stabbed through the blanket of black that made the sky._

_Its otherworldly beauty would have made him stare in awe and appealed to him more if he wasn't in such a hurry to find the kidnapped blonde. "PEWDIE!" He shouted out, leaping over another gap between a floating platform and a stretch of floor. The brunet didn't keep himself quiet, he didn't care who or what heard him besides the Swede. There wasn't a point, he was invited by the virus after all so he already knew he was there anyway. "Jesus Christ, how big is this place?" the gamer griped, ignoring the branching paths as he continued to race on. He deadpanned at the question and resisted the urge to facepalm. "Pretty fucking big considering this is the internet." He scolded himself for asking a stupid question but dropped it in favor of calling the Swedish gamer's name again. He slowed down to catch his breath, looking around in hopes of spotting Pewdie somewhere close by. "Come on, where are you buddy? Can't possibly be anywhere else in this place."_

"Are you absolutely certain of that, friend?"

_Cry spun around in surprise and looked around warily. Only one person scared him with his own voice from the audio corruption and god how much he hated hearing it. Leaning against the side of a pillar that had ribbons of data flowing to and from it was Virus, but was looking out into the darkness were distant vortexes stood. The masked YouTuber watched him suspiciously but noticed that the virus seemed to have this peaceful air about him._ "This place holds a serene beauty, doesn't it?"

_The question caught the young man off guard. So much so, he could only stare at him with a brow raised. "What?" he finally asked, confused by the situation. Since when did his viral counterpart give a damn about scenery?_

_Not looking away from where he stood, Virus gestured out to the horizon. Keeping his brow raised, Cry cautiously turned to look at where the virus pointed, taking in the scene. Lights streaked and flashed through the sky, making their way to the vortex that looked like a cyclone of green, blue and white ribbon, the glow of the circuitry illuminated the lower levels and distance like city lights. Though the lights and circuitry pulsed to follow a rhythm of music only they knew of, it was an amazing sight and did hold a unique tranquility all its own. Cry didn't want to admit it but Virus was right._

_"Wow," The gamer breathed, watching the lights dance everywhere they went. Being caught up by the sight and keeping his guard up, Cry never noticed the proud look or soft smile that crossed Virus' face for a split second._

"Well that's enough of that,"_ Virus pushed away from the wall, shattering the silence and snapping Cry back to reality. He turned back to him, puzzled by the changing of tones and waiting for a second for his brain to switch gears. The air around Virus was no longer peaceful but back being cold and malicious behind a fake smile._ "You're not here for the backdrop anyway."_ He grinned at Cry, hands in the pockets of the hoodie,_ "Besides, you didn't answer my question... are you certain that Pewdie is here? At least close enough to where you are?"

_"He better be," The brunet growled, suddenly feeling tricked and didn't want to be trapped by the virus that stood before him. He sighed at the annoyed look the copy gave him. "I know what you mean, damnit. The internet is like a giant pool, while we enter the same pool, we still come in from two different of many points since we're on opposite sides of the planet."_

"Give the boy a prize."_ The double clapped his hands mockingly, smirking at Cry's sour reaction,_ "But yes, that's true, I did drag him into Cyber Space while there was a link between you two with playing a game and using Skype, but no real guarantee that he was placed here."

_"Are you fucking kid-"_

_Virus cut him off, gesturing to the horizon again._ "He could be as far as those vortexes are, probably even further than that. Or..."_ What Cry could see of Virus' face betrayed no expression... but it was his eyes that did. They glowed against the shadows of his hair and mask,_ "he could be standing right behind you..."

_Cry went still at realizing the sudden presence behind him. "Wha-?!" He spun around..._

*~*~*~*End Flashback*~*~*~*


	4. File Corruption

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the YouTubers, Virus!Cry or Mad!Cry. YouTubers belong to themselves (I mean seriously, we can't own people, that's illegal.) Virus and Mad!Cry belong to the people that first created them in Tumblr. You rock. Image belongs to artisticalassassin from deviantArt**

A/N: I'm still working on the title, if you got a suggestion, let me know in the reviews or PM me. In fact, for the reviews, if you like it you like, fine, but I do ask to have some _helpful_ criticism to help improve my rusty ass writing skills or tips on making the chapters better for you. :3 Also I apologize in advance if any of the characters (YouTubers) are acting Out Of Character. I only know a little of their personalities and habits (Or none and just guess) on many of them. Sorry. :(

Anyway... helpful guide.

/ - anything in those is usually text from a computer

Flashbacks are italicized, unless its computer text or Virus speaking

Virus' dialogue is in italics unless in flashbacks.

-_- And apparently I can't do the .EXE without FanFiction flipping its shit. So I may go with either a comma to replace the dot or ... or just a dash, whichever you guys prefer. Let me know. :)

I'm so sorry for taking a long time for this chapter, so I made it extra long, I think, for you guys! I was a bit stuck and of that snag, my chapters will be a little on the slow side. I apologize in advance for that, but I hope you understand.

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Chapter 4 - File Corruption

The gamer snapped out his memories in time to see Virus lift Pewdie up from the floor by the collar of his shirt, the rest of the lanky frame sagged in his grip. The virus's eyes glowed in apparently victory, only to jerk in surprise as Cry bull rushed him and ripped him away from the blonde. "Get the fuck away from him, damnit!" Cry snarled as both of them tumbled to the ground, letting his fists fly in a flurry of punches at the virus. The program hissed in pain and struggled, warding off blows with his forearms and firing his own punches to force the other off.

But the brunet refused to budge, taking the hits and only kept adding more of his own, his anger fueling the strength behind the blows. Catching Cry's fist, the virus' eyes glowing brightly in rage. _"Get the __**fuck**__ off of me!"_ Virus snarled, glitching out from under the gamer, leaving him there in surprise at the disruption of his brash attack. Virus re-glitched behind him and slammed his foot against Cry's back hard, earning a cry of pain before the human crumpled beneath his shoe. The virus didn't grin or soak in the fact that his target lay whimpering beneath him; he only breathed hard and growled, eyes flashing. _"You don't know when to give up, do you, Cry?"_

Cry only moaned and whimpered, trembling at Virus' foot pressing painfully against his back. He panted harshly as he tried to cope with the pain and grunted in response, glaring at him from the corner of his mask the sat askew on his face. Gathering his strength, the gamer pushed himself slowly up, only to feel Virus press his foot back against him, even though a strange expression crossed the virus' face. _"Why even bother getting up? The more you struggle, the more painful it will be. Just lay there and accept the fact you lost."_

The brunet let out a bark of a laugh as he still struggled to his hands and knees. "'Why bother getting up', you ask?" He snarked, panting and turned his head again to grin at his digital copy. "Because fuck you, that's why." The grin was short lived before another cry of pain tore through his throat as the virus growled and slammed his foot against his back again, making the American gamer collapse back against the pavement.

_"Just. Accept. It. You. Lost!"_ Virus snapped, punctuating each word with a stomp against his creator's spine. He felt nothing for the cries and yells of pain as he stomped the YouTuber over and over for a minute. Then pressed his foot painfully against Cry's back, pressing him against the pavement, as if to crush him into the asphalt and spat his words angrily. _"For the last __**fucking**__ time, stay down! Pewdie's reinfection will only last a minute __**then**__ I'll come for you and take control of your body."_

"Fuck you, sir!"

Virus bristled, lifted his leg and brought it back down for another stomp but didn't anticipate Cry's reflexes. Even though he was crawling with pain, the brunet was quick to flip over onto his back, and braced his arms for impact as he caught the virus' stomp. "Pysch, you mother fucker!" He gave a quick grin at the program's startled expression as his hand lashed out and gripped the other's leg. His grin only grew wider as green electricity raced up his arm and jumped into the virus' body in a harsh shock.

Virus screamed, his body going ridged from pain and the electricity's paralyzing effect. The data maintaining his form jumped from the shock and his form flickered in corruption as his voice warped further and grew in volume. Cry winced in being so close to the shrieking but didn't break his grip on the virus, sending another pulse of electricity into him. The screaming pitched higher, the pain too intense for copy to maintain the background illusion and the scene from _The Last of Us_ shattered, revealing Cyber Space once more. At last, Virus managed glitch away from Cry and hurriedly hurled himself a fair distance from both humans. He doubled over in pain, partly paralyzed as he struggled to minimize the damage done to his coding and to keep his image from twitching and flickering as badly.

Both combatants left each other alone, using the time to recuperate and regain strength as fast as they could. The two of them glared at each other from where they were, panting before Virus looked away first, closing his eyes to focus on repairing himself, trembling and twitching as electricity sparked and jumped from him. He growled at the feeling of being paralyzed and quickly used his own to try to neutralize Cry's. The gamer, on the other hand, reveled in letting his back be soothed by the coolness of the transparent floor, letting his body cope and recover from the blows. Just as he was to close his eyes to relax his body some, a shadow fell over him.

"Holy shit! What happened to you, Cry?!"

"Gaah~!" Cry screamed and jolted in place, staring up at a familiar sandy blonde that blinked quizzically at him. "Pewds?! Oh my god Pewds, are you okay?!" The Swede grimaced as he rubbed the side of his head from where he had been struck unconscious. The brunet flinched at seeing the cracked ear piece of Pewdie's iconic headset, proving just how hard Cry had struck to protect himself. The guilt of that still weighed on him.

"I'm fine, but damn you hit hard..." Pewdie answered, catching the other man's flinch then gave him a half-hearted glare, "I'm fine, really. Don't worry about it, Cry." He then grimaced again while looking over Cry's roughed up look. "You should worry about yourself, you look worse than I do. What the hell hit you? The Bro?" His face scrunched up in a comical scowl. "The barrels?"

Cry snerked at his friend's face and suppressed his giggles, "I wished. But..." He pushed aside his mirth and grasped the blonde's offered hand and pulled himself up, flicking a wrist over to the virus that stood a little ways from them. "I was actually getting my ass kicked by that asshole."

Looking in the direction the masked gamer had pointed out, Pewdie saw the viral twin of his best friend, glare at them in rage. The green electricity still sparked around him briefly before being dispersed by his own electric charge and repair system. He was not in a happy mood. _"And this asshole is going to keep kicking your ass!"_ the virus spat, dashing forward and unfortunately for the two they were lined up nicely to both being tackled. Virus slammed shoulder against Cry's chest and kept charging; forcing the gamer to collide into the equally startled Swede and sent them both flying with a powerful shock. The two friends tumbled to the ground in a tangle, yelping in pain and shock as Virus glitched away, leaving Cry to look around wildly.

"Oh shit, where did he go?" The brunet shifted his gaze, trying to locate the digital double and avoid another attack. "Pewdie... do you see him?"

"No... but that fucking hurt." Pewdie muttered, "What the hell has Virus been eating to hit that hard?" He then happened to look up and paled at the oncoming attack, "Ah... Cry! Get off of me! Incoming!"

"What? Ahh~!" Cry glanced up, yelped and the two friends shoved each other away. They hurled themselves aside as Virus dropped down, spearing the swords into the spot on the floor they had just been on. Twisting his face in frustration, the virus ripped his weapons out, causing the glassy floor in that one area to shatter from the damage. And in that time, Cry was already on the move, bringing out his own twin swords and slashing at the virus, who smirked and dodged the attacks. "Seriously, I'm getting sick of your shit, Virus. You're not getting my body, you're not taking over my life and I sure as hell am not going to be stuck in this hell hole! Let me delete you so Pewds and I can leave!"

Virus only smirked at his counterpart, idly wondering if he should mention that one very important thing. But he figured it was much more fun to let him keep thinking he'd win against him. A flicker of movement came from his side and he reacted instantly. The virus brought one sword up to block Cry's overhead slash, catching both blades and held them back surprisingly easy. His other sword went up and he threw it at an oncoming fist. Pewdie yelped in surprise as the digital Brofist was struck then shattered as the electric sword exploded within it, corrupting the coding and causing it to fizzle out. _"Ah-ah! This fight is between me and Cryaotic, you were just the bait."_

"The hell its not my fight!" Pewdie growled, rushing forward and threw another punch, a second large fist materializing and coming at the virus. "You dragged me in here for something other than being the bait! I'm not leaving Cry to fight by himself!"

_"If you insist."_ Virus sighed then grinned, his eyes glowing as he spun around the American gamer and letting his other blade disappear, surprising him as he had just placed more of his weight in trying to break through his guard and causing him to stumble forward. The viral being chuckled as he grabbed onto Cry's exposed arm, swung him completely around and threw him into the Brofist's path. The brunet yelped at the oncoming attack then cried out as the fist slammed against his chest with enough force to send him flying backwards toward Virus, who merely glitched away to avoid him. "But having you double team against me may even work in my favor anyway."

"CRY!" The blonde yelled in horror as he watched his friend crash into a crystal like structure. The data streaming through it flickered from the damage but returned to normal after a bit, illuminating the masked YouTuber as he lay crumbled against the wreckage. His own digital body flickering and glitching lightly as his data tried to keep itself together to repair some of the damage to stave off deletion. "Oh my god, what have I done? Cry!" The Swede yelled again as he bolted toward the American in hopes of helping him but Virus glitched in front of him.

_"Let me show what a real punch is like, Pewds."_ Virus sneered, crouching slightly and jumped forward, ramming both of his fists repeatedly into Pewdie's gut in rapid succession then finished with a cross, sending the taller man sprawling onto the clear floor. _"Your Brofist can cause a lot of damage but if you can't even aim the fucking thing right then the only person you'll ever hit is the one you're trying to protect. How sad."_

Pewdie curled up, going into a coughing fit as he tried cope with the pain and trying to breathe. As he rolled painfully on the floor trying to regain his breath, he worried about Cry and his mind flashed back to what he remembered when he first woke up in Cyber Space.

*~*~*~*Flashback*~*~*~*

_Pewdiepie was lost. _

_Pure and simple. _

_Last he remembered was playing Bloody Trapland with Cry and then something happened. Whatever it was landed his Swedish ass here in Cyber Space, lost and having no idea how to get out of there. Was he even really there?Or was it some bizarre dream he was in? He didn't know but he did like appearance, watching the lights with awe as he moved through the world that felt familiar to him. _

_As he went, the blonde paused multiple times to examine the structures and flooring. He was surprised to see rapid moving binary code encased what looked like glass, then up at the streaming data that flowed to and from the vortexes in the distance. It was fascinating and yet something was completely off. He looked around himself again, seeing tall and short crystalline-like structures, the flowing data and pulsing lights of circuitry. It looked like a huge multiple layered city like you see in science fiction flicks but... one key difference between this one and the ones in the movies._

_It was empty of life._

_Don't get him wrong, he loved the place and it teemed with a life all its own but, there wasn't anyone else around. 'Where is everyone?' The YouTuber thought as he continued on his way, nervous at the lack of people here in this huge metropolis of lights. He couldn't possibly be the only one here, there had to be someone else here... Maybe Cry fell into this as well? Even so, why? What were they doing here for? He didn't have the answers for those questions so he went on his way. _

_Some time had passed and the more he thought about it the more he was sure he was just lost. Everything looked the same, beautiful but the same, there wasn't any kind of landmarks that looked different enough to let him know if he just wasn't going in circles. As he moved on, he heard a faint shout, or at least thought he did. The Swede perked up and looked around, straining to hear the sound, praying he just wasn't starting to hear things. _

_"Pewdie!"_

_There it was! It was too faint for him to make out who it belonged to, but if he was right, then it would be Cry. He smiled widely and raced for the direction of the sound, glad to hear another voice besides his own and thanked them for continuously call him so he could follow. He leaped onto platforms and paths as he ran for the distant voice, the futuristic scene a blur as he chased the voice. He didn't care who it was as long as it was a friend and he wouldn't be alone in such a strange world. He took a breath and was about to call back out when he skidded to a halt, eyes wide. Someone stood in the middle of the walkway, glazing out into the darkness toward the vortexes. _

_Brown hair, green hoodie, white mask... It was him wasn't it?!_

_"Cry!" Pewdie shouted happily, running towards his friend, relieved to see him. So happy to see him, the blonde failed to see the startled reaction from the shorter male before quickly regaining composer. The brunet smiled behind his mask and turned slightly to look at the YouTuber, showing only the portion of the mask that looked visibly normal. _

"Pewds, there you are!"_ Cry called out, sounding just a bit off. If Pewds didn't know any better, he thought it sounded... warped and he seemed to struggle to sound normal. The brunet coughed and rubbed at his neck before speaking again._ "I was looking all over for you!"

_The blonde shook off the strangeness of it and smiled anyway as he got closer. Something must've been stuck in his throat to sound like that for a second. "I was looking for you too, bro. But I got lost..." It was then that the Swede had the sudden feeling of being in danger, the hairs on the back of neck prickled and everything in him told him to get away from Cry as fast and as far as possible. Pewdiepie froze and took in Cry's appearance as a whole. Glowing electric blue circuitry peppered on his entire frame, and a slight glitch effect as if the person was trying to keep it to a minimal. It couldn't be..._

"Thank you ever so much for making this easier for me..."_ Virus purred, turning fully to face the Swedish YouTuber and letting the facade drop, his body glitching and his voice back to its warped state._ "For a second there I thought Cry would reach you first. And yet fortune smiles upon me to have you come to me. I'm honored you would do such a thing."

_'Oh no...' Pewdie backed away hurriedly, terror rising the longer he was within Virus' sights. The viral being only smiled wider, his visible eye glowing as he stalked slowly toward his victim, made all the more menacing now that his entire face was cast in shadow._ "Really now, what kind of friend are you if you cannot even tell the difference between Cryaotic and myself?"

_Pewdie didn't bother to hear anything more, instead he turned on his heel and fled, racing as fast as he could away from the virus. He didn't even screamed, he just wanted to get away from him for however far his legs could take him. Something flickered to the side and Pewdie, upon reflex, ducked under what was swiping just above him. Virus smiled, holding the electric blade in his hand,_ "Fast, aren't you?"_ The blonde only leaped away and continued to run but no matter how far or how fast he moved, Virus was just right there, glitching easily in front of him._

_In a last ditch effort to lose the virus and then try to find Cry as quickly as possible, Pewdie hurled himself off the current level to the level below. He cried out as he hit one of the structures with his side but was lucky that it had a gentle slope that curved to the floor below and just slid with it. He rolled to a stop on the clear floor below, coughing at having the wind knocked out of him but managed to lose the virus for a bit. He pulled himself up and holding his side in pain, limped over to hide in the shadows of a nearby data tower, hoping to recover a bit before having to make another run for it._

_Someone clicked their tongue and Pewdie spun around to see who it was, yelping in terror as a hand gripped him by the front of his shirt and pinned him harshly against the side of the data tower. Pewdie shook as he looked down at the one that gripped him tightly._ "Silly little Swede... Did you honestly think you could lose me in MY world?"_ Virus grinned up at his face then forced himself to try to stabilize his voice for a bit of cruelty._ "What's the matter, Pewds? You look as though you just saw a ghost..."

_The blonde closed his eyes and shook his head to get the sound out of the cold words, refusing to mesh it with that of his best friend. "It's not Cry... It's not Cry... don't let him fool you.." _

"Aww... does the little Swede not like the new me?"

_"Not Cry... Not Cry..."_

"Psst. Pewds... you know what my favorite PC game is?"

_Pewdie opened his eyes at the strange question then wished he hadn't. A serpentine like digital appendage had appeared from Virus' back and hovered in the air, fixated on the blonde. Blue eyes stayed glued to the appendage in fright and didn't want to even think what that was going to do to him._ "It's Slender."_ Virus whispered in Cry's stable voice as the limb swiftly looped under his arm and speared through Pewdiepie's stomach._

His eyes went wide and screamed in agony, only to have it muffled as Virus' free hand clamped down on his mouth to avoid it having being heard by who Virus knew was looking for the blonde. Energy, the equivalent of blood for the digital world, seeped from the wound as the appendage began the hacking, tearing through the firewalls that kept the human safe. Pewdie moaned and whimpered in pain, sagging against the wall as he felt the viral hacking crawl through him.

/Coding hack of file Pewdiepie-EXE now processing/

"Don't worry, I'm not trying to kill you."_ Virus purred, grinning behind his mask and still keeping Cry's voice going, even using his famous giggle._ "I'm just rewriting your coding, wouldn't Cry be excited to see you now?"

_Pewdie shivered at the idea, vision doubling as he lost more energy. He began to panic at seeing the patches of circuitry spreading along his body, feeling the virus dig deeper to gain control of his coding. He gathered what strength he had and began to struggle and thrash wildly to dislodge the hacking appendage. But at every movement he made in his struggles only caused more pain to jolt through him, black dots dancing at the edge of his vision. _

_The virus clicked his tongue, his focus not at all broken during the Swedish gamer's struggles._ "The more you struggle, the more painful it'll be to hack you."_ Virus chided him, grinning as Pewdie let out a sharp yelp and his body glitched a bit._ "There we go, firewall down..."

/Coding hack complete/

"Now to prepare Cry's little present!"_ He used Cry's giggle again as the appendage charged and glowed with the viral coding,_ "I won't lie... the infection is going to hurt like a mother fucker."

_He released the charge and Pewdie screamed through his hand..._

/Viral data upload processing.../

/**ERROR:** Pewdiepie-EXE file corruption – 25%/

/**ERROR:** File corruption – 60%/

.

.

.

/**ERROR:** Pewdiepie-EXE corruption – 100% Unable to read file data.../


	5. Project: MASK Future Sneak Peek (Maybe)

A/N: Since I'm feeling under the weather and focused more on getting better than typing (even though I still am typing it. Chapter 5 is hindered due to me catching a nasty cold and flu from my sister. Because of that, I decided to let you guys have a sneak peek of what may go on the fic. It can change or not, I'm not sure since I haven't gotten there yet. It was a scene that rolled around in my head so... yeah. It's a bit rough but sorry. It will be removed when I get chapter 5 up.

Enjoy.

* * *

The virus screamed in fury as he was hurtled into a data tower, smashing through it and caused it to collapse. The data stream flowing into that tower flickered then shattered, raining bytes down on the battlefield below. Anti-Pewdie landed slightly in front of Cry in protection, both panting in trying to recover strength as they watched the wreckage closely. They knew that attack alone didn't finish off the viral being and that made them worry. Anything that didn't delete the virus only made him angier, served him to prove his strength.

And that was a dangerous thing to let a virus do.

Just as they feared, Virus stumbled out of the rubble, coughing as he shoved aside a piece of rubble from his path. _"Everything... I did..."_ Virus growled in barely contained fury, his voice warping and quivering with it. The lights of circuitry around him flickered and failed from damage, casting the area the virus program stood in darkness. Something swept aside the dust and the glow of his eyes bore into the pair from the shadows with malice. He stalked forward, his usual cold and calm demeanor deteriorated with each step, causing the lights around him to flicker as he stepped away from the darkness. _"I did __**everything**__ you had asked of me... what you __**all**__ have asked of me..."_

Anti-Pewdz jerked his head in surprise as his red tinted glasses flashed in alarm, hurling warnings at his eyes about the high level virus. He was puzzled by this. Why would they key onto the Virus if he already knew he was there? He already had the information and danger level of him, so why are they going off again? He tried to concentrate on both, but the alerts were obscuring his vision and making it difficult to see his target. Cry, of course, was on edge, keeping his eyes glued to the virus as everything told him he should run. Fuck the fight and just run. But he couldn't afford to do that, if he ran then he was sure Virus would kill him with his back turned. At least this way, he had a chance and he'd be damned to let his copy take over his body. Yet, his instincts told him things just got more dangerous for them.

_"And yet... you fucking shunned me..."_ Virus hissed acidly, the flickering lights making him more nightmarish to the two as they eyed the two tendrils that whipped about behind the virus. _"I did everything for you and you shunned me! I was the virus you programed to search and destroy every piece of personal data on you from your fans' hard drives! I infected __hundreds__ of __**thousands**__ of computers in YOUR name! To protect YOUR identity!"_ He screamed, gripping the mask he wore and ripped it off, only managing to break off the piece that covered his remaining eye. The lower portion of the mask remained and he glared at them now with both visible eyes with such intensity it caused both Cry and Anti to step back in surprise.

They both could clearly see the rage, malice and insanity that lit Virus' eyes that would place Mad to shame if he ever saw it; but there was also anguish in them at the thought of being a failure. _"Everything I did was what I was programmed to do and I was rewarded with deletion!"_ The virus spat in fury, _"You deleted me, Cryaotic... YOU DELETED ME!"_ Cry flinched at the sight and sighed. So this is what it was all about. "But I survived the deletion... from those thousands of infected computers, I survived!"

The YouTuber stood slowly and cautiously, trying not to provoke him further as Anti gave up on his shades and propped them onto his head and watched Cry suspiciously. "Virus... I'm sorry.. but I had to..." The brunet began, trying to state his case, "I didn't program you correctly, you were too strong in destroying the hard drives... You were only suppose to target the information about me not wipe out the entire computer..."

_"LIES!"_ Virus Cry roared accusingly, _"You left me alone to rot in Cyber Space after you deleted me!"_

"No.. I..."

_"And for THAT, __**fuck**__ taking your body and life!"_ Virus laughed insanely, what was left of them mask now melding to his face, _"To hell with escaping, I'm going to delete you like you deleted me! After all, you and I are one and the same!"_

Anti and Cry stared in horror as the two tendrils whipped about chaotically before splitting themselves into six that now lashed the air. Anti-Pewdz stiffened as his shades once again wailed in an alarm only he could hear as it fired alerts in rapid succession of Virus' condition. He slipped them back on and mentally slapped aside the warnings and gulped in terror at the gauge. It keyed on Virus' infection level, informing him that it had rose to a critical stage and needed to be addressed NOW. Then he understood for the shades' odd behavior. It was wasn't re-informing of him something he already knew; it was alerting him to the virus' rising danger and infection level. "Well, shit..."

"Virus! I wasn't trying to delete you!" Cry tried again, shaking in terror and horrified by what he was witnessing. What was Virus becoming!?

_"LIAR!"_ His digital twin screamed, eyes flashing brightly with insanity. _"Liar! Liarliarliarliar~! __**LiAr!**__"_ He gripped his head as his memories of loneliness, isolation, rage and terror flashed through his mind and the last of his sanity shattered. The mask had fully melded to his face, leaving behind a jagged dark maw for a twisted parody of a mouth. It was black hole as he opened it to let out a mindless and wordless shriek that made his warped voice all the more chaotic. And what made Virus who he was, was now gone, leaving behind a beast as it crouched onto all fours like the Hunters from Left 4 Dead or Naruto from the anime. It stared at them and smiled, a twisted tongue sticking out of its jaws as the tendrils sharpened in appearance and whipped the air. **_"cOMe! YouR DelETIon aWaITs!"_**


End file.
